Desire
by Khi Nguyn Mai
Summary: They thought it was over, But it's just the end of a chapter and the beginning of a new one. After a messy break up, Percy dissapears for 7 years. when he comes back, he brings some... interesting friends with him. (goddamnit I'm suck at summary, English isn't my native language, so feel free to give advices)
1. Broken

Percy tries to speak, to make her stop and turns around, to make her get back to him, but no word comes watch helplessly as she gets toward the door and leaves. The door closes in front of his eyes. He just stands there, frozen. He doesn't know what to do. So he does the only thing that pops into his mind: screams and destroys. He screams his lungs out. But he doesn't care. He keeps screaming until his lungs can't take it anymore, until his throat hurts like breaks everything, but he doesn't care.A few moments later, his apartment becomes unrecognizeable. Shattered glass, torn sofa,... Then he starts crying. He has faced so many enemies, so many , he has even been to Tartarus and came back. But all those times, he had her by his side. Now she's gone, because of his stupid action.

He has lost her.

Annabeth doesn't look back. She just keeps running, tries to get as far as she can, away from the apartment, away from...him. Annabeth has always been the one who has a plan, who can prepares for the worst case scenario. But not this time. She can't think clear, she doesn't have any idea what to do next, how to deal with has dealt with all kind of pain before, but not this one. So she keeps running, to any place other than this place. Suddenly, something rolls down Annabeth's face. Tears. Tears rolling down her face, shines like pearls. Normally, she would wipe it off, but not this time.

She lets it rolls.


	2. Regret

Noises. Lights. The small beeping sound of the alarm clock comes from the bedroom. Percy feels like there are a thousands sledgehammer hammering in his head. Fucking hangovers. Slowly, he opens his eyes and sitting straight up. He checks the cracked clocks. It's 4 PM. He has passed out for almost a day. Percy cautiously stands up, tries to regain his balance. It has been a week since the...fight. The first day after that, He was a mess. He tried to call Annabeth, tried to contact her, went to all of her usual locations, but nothing worked. Since then, he has locked himself in the house, drinking, throwing trash all over the place,... . He doesn't want to go out now, he doesn't want to do anything. He has tried everything, gone to every places...

Everywhere except one...

No, he can't go there! Not in this state, not after what he had done. But...there's no other choices...

He takes a deep breath. It's okay, it might be better than he thought. He needs to be positive. Keeps that thought in mind, he goes to prepare himself. After all, he's going to visit a place that made him feels like home.

He's going to visit camp Half Blood.


	3. Fight

chapter 3:

There it is, camp Half Blood.

It took him a long time to finally get there. Maybe because of the fact that he has to stop every 5 minutes to rethink his decision. But it is too late to turn back now. He needs to go for it. So, takes a deep breath, he walks inside the camp. But something is... off. The forest feels... hostile. The forest is filled with mythical creatures, somes are deadly, but he has never had this feeling before. Still, he continues walking down the path, pushes away his uneasy feeling...

After what's seemingly forever, the cabins start to appear. Gods, it has been months seen he last saw it. The cabins, the campers playing, training, the children of Hermes pranking the Ares cabin,...

Yeah, the good old days...

Suddenly, the whole camp goes silent. Campers start looking at him, whispers can be heard louder and louder. Ignores that, Percy forces his eyes to look straight, and walks toward the Athena cabin. Slowly, he reachs the door and knocks on it. Almost immediately, the door throws open. There stands Malcolm, Annabeth's half brother. He looks like he hasn't had a sleep for days. He has visible bags under his eyes, and he clearly hasn't changed his clothes for atleast 4 days. He yells:

"ANNABETH! WHERE HAVE YOU-"

He stops instantly when he sees who is standing there. Reluctantly, Percy asks:

"Hi. Uh, is Annabeth here-"

The sentence get cut by a punch right into his his face. Before Percy can understand, he falls backward and hits the back of his head. His ears fill with buzzing noises, but he's pretty sures that some campers are screaming. He quickly stands back on his foots just in time to meet another punch. This time though, he dodges it. In front of him, Malcolm has a murderous look in his eyes. He throws another punch and scream:

"WHAT HAVE YOU DONE?!"

"I..." Percy tries to explains, but he finds himself speechless. After all, what he has done can't be explained just by a few words. Around them, the camp has realised what is happenning. Some campers starts to go calling for helps, some try to stop the fight (and fail miserably), and some just watch the fight with amusement and curiosity (the Ares cabin). After a few minutes, Malcolm starts to show signs of tiredness. Percy thinks that he can starts reasoning with him. But, before he can does anything, Malcolm does something unexpected. He pulls something out of his back pocket.

It's a knife.

SLASH! For one second, Percy doesn't feel anything. Then, the pain comes. And something hot starts dripping down his face. Blood. His tongue fills with the iron taste of his blood. The cut is long, it starts from top left of his forehead and ends at his right cheekbone. Percy is paralyzed. He and Malcolm are not very close, but they get on well with each others. He never thought that Malcolm would ever do something irrational like that. Malcolm raises his hand up, prepares to slash down again. But before neither of them can do anything, Percy heard a strong, familiar voice in the distance:

"ENOUGH!"

Chiron has come.


	4. Rage

The centaur has finally comes to the rescue. He is being followed by a few campers, having a hardened look on his face. his eyebrows knitted and his jaw tightened. However, his voice still remained calm.

"What is happening here?" Chiron asks.

"This son of a bitch dares to show his face here! even after what he-". Malcolm is literaly screaming, he points at Percy, now looking dirty and vulnerable. But he gets cut off by Chiron:

"Calm down, I will handle this from here. And don't use foul language here, Malcolm, there're children here". Chiron gestures around the crowd that is surrounding.

"But-" Malcolm tries to talk, but shut himself up immediately when Chiron look at him.

"Sure, I need to check on my cabin anyway", Malcolm says. Then, he looks at Percy, still looking confused and lost. He says:

"If you try to use your power heal to heal that cut, call me, I want to see the moment you become a coward". His look makes Percy shivers. Luckily, Chiron saves the day again. He shouts:

"ENOUGH! Malcolm, you are going to washes the dishes in the kitchen for a week!". Then, he turns around to Percy. Percy want to avoid his eyes, but he can't. Chiron's eyes have something that just drive people in. Chiron speaks, his voice now much softer:

"Come on, let's get you inside. We have to treat your wound first.".

Right, the wound. The blood must has covered half of his face by now. Percy follow him to the Big House, walking pass all the curious campers. When they get inside Chiron's room, A few dryads show up and take him inside. They make him sit down on take care of his wound in silent, even though Percy can still feel the tension in the air. After a few minutes, the dryads finish and go. Percy and Chiron sit face to face in silence for a few awkward moments. Then, Chiron breaks the silence:

"I would have given you a bottle of water to heal your wound, but after what Malcolm said, I feel like you wouldn't accept that, would you?". He look at Percy, his eyes seem to pierce through chuckles, but there's no humor:

"Should I accept it? Maybe I should go back out there, tell Malcolm to give me a few more cuts. Maybe that will cheer him up.", he said. Chiron stares at him. He has never seen Percy being so... cold before. Percy can be happy, dangerous, moody, childlish and much more, but he has never been cold. Slowly, Chiron asks:

"Percy, what happended?"

That's his breaking point. Percy snaps:

"WHAT DO YOU WANT ME TO SAY?! I FUCKED IT UP! I MADE A HUGE MISTAKE AND NOW I'M GOTTA FACE THE CONSEQUENCE! I SAID BAD THINGS, I LOST CONTROL! WHAT MORE DO YOU NEED TO KNOW?!"

He stands up abruptly, knocking the His voice keeping louder and louder, it gets out of the room, everyone can hear it, but he doesn't care. He needs to release his anger on someone. Chiron just sits there, shocked. Percy looks insane. His clothes are messed up, his arms swinging violently. But, something catches his attention. His eyes. There is so much pain in there. they look like shattered glass. Chiron had seen many heroes fell, crushed, but he never thought Percy would be like that. So he just sit there, speechless. Percy glares at him:

"What? Never thought I would be such a dick like this? You can try this sometimes, it's so fun to be the bad guy!" Percy is practicaly throwing words out now. Chiron just sit there, do nothing. They stares at each other for what seems like an the anger in Percy is starting to die down, he feels heavy. The adrenaline rush has vanished, leaving him with an empty feeling, a bottomless hole in his heart. His breath is short, his head hurts, everything seem surrounded by the Mist.

Then, Chiron speaks:

"I... I can't say I know how you feel. I had lost many peoples I care about, but never like you did. But you need to tell someone about it, or it gonna kill you slowly from the inside.". He speaks carefully, feeling like he is trying to disable a bomb. Some words escape Percy mouth, too small to hear.

"Pardon me?"Chiron blinks. Percy repeats:

"Where is Annabeth?". He feels desperate need to find her, he need to fix this!

Chiron looks at him: "Percy..."

"You know where she is.". That's not a question. Percy looks into Chiron eyes, begging for answer.

Chiron sighs:"She's in San Francisco". Percy heart skips a beat. "She said that she is fine." .Percy lets out a breath he doesn't even know he was holding. But, Chiron looks at him pitiful:

"She said that she knows you will comes here to find her and she want to give you a message."

"What is it?" Percy asks.

Chiron replies, his voice heavy:

"She said: "Go to Tartarus" ".


	5. Decision

Percy's look changes rapidly in front of Chiron's eyes. They go from confused to realization, then pure horror, and then... something else. His eyes suddenly become so... dull, hard to read, they are hiding something that Chiron can't figure out. He has spent thousands of years teaching and observing heroes, and he has seen many things in their eyes: Fear, anger, love, hate, disgusted, pride,... But this is different. They look calm, too calm. Then, it hits him: they look like the calm before the storm. The darkness in his eyes is become more and more visible now. Something bad is coming, and it's coming fast.

"Percy, whatever you are thinking right now, just calm down" Chiron quickly says, tries to stop the inevitable

"So she said it.". Percy whispers. The temperature in the room drops a few degree. Chiron starts shivering, literally shivering. He lets out a shaky breath, only to see fog comes out. He feels pain and cold in his chest, feels like he is inhaling ice. Somehow, Percy has managed to frezes all the air molecures in the air. Snow starts to appear, _in summer,_ and covers the floor. Percy looks menacing now. winds blowing all around him, yet he doesn't even flinch. His hair is now mixed with snow, his hands are the source of the storm that is raging right now. He looks like a snow demon, the cut on his face just add more to that look. The temperature's droping at an unbeliveable speed, just a few more minutes and the whole room will becomes a giant refrigerator. Chiron tries to keep himself awake, but he feel sleepier and sleepier. He knows that sleeping in this kind of temperature will make peoples fall into a coma. Eventhough Chiron is immortal, this can still has a long time effect on him. But he can't help it.

" _Maybe just close my eyes a little..._ " Chiron thoughts as he slowly falls into coma...

Huh, it's not that bad actually. The coma feels welcoming. It's actually not that cold. In fact, he feels... , or someone is making the room warmer. Focuses his mind, Chiron opens his eyes and see a glowing figure behind Percy's back.

Apollo.

The god of sun is here.

Percy immediately realises something is wrong and turns around to see what is happening. He jumps atleast 3 steps back, shocked by what he sees. Apollo is literally getting hotter and hotter, melts away all the snow and ice in the room. Then... the light dissapears. The whole room comes back to normal, likes nothing has ever happened in the first place.

"What...are...you...doing...here?" Percy asks, his voice venomous. He looks ready to kill someone to feeds on his anger. Apollo answer simply:

"Stop this nonsense of yours". Chiron can't believe his ears. Never in a thousand years he would think that a god will interferes in an demigod's argument , and it is practicaly imposible to think that _Apollo_ will be the one who does that.

"OH?! You want to stop this?! The great, noble Apollo wants to stop this! How kind of you!" Percy almost screams.

Apollo stays quiet for a few seconds, then answers:

"My... quest on earth has given me a new perspective. It showed me that I was so naive, so stupid. Even after all those years, I have learnt nothing.". That seems to takes Percy back. The aura emitted from him is still strong, but he isn't hostile anymore.

Slowly, Percy asks again:

"Why are you here?". Honestly, Chiron has the same question in his mind. Gods don't normally get between humans or in this case, demigods problems.

"Can't a god helps a poor soul out?" Apollo asks almost teasingly when he meets with Percy's suspisious look.

"Gods don't help for free." Percy replies coldy. "We ask for help, and then we owe you a favour.". That is a sad truth. Gods usually only asks for help if it benefit them back.

"Pardon me, lord Apollo, but... Percy does make a point." Chiron says, finally joins the conversasion. He gets Apollo's attention immediately. But suprisingly, he doesn't get burns to ash.

"First, just call me Apollo, the word "Lord" sounds ridiculous. Secondly,... this time, I want something differents." Apollo replies, clearly doesn't feel offended by what Chiron and Percy just said.

"And that is...?" Percy asks, sounds like he is teaching a 5 years old. Chiron can't helps but wonders how the young man survived the wrath of the gods for all those years.

"A business relationship" Apollo says, make both of them surprised. "A god came to me to ask for help for a sticky situation, and I think you can help with that.".

"Who is that?" Percy asks, his eyes now show a hint of interested.

"You can say that this god is ... bored to death dealing with the problem..." Apollo drops the not-so-subtle clue and receives two long stares from the demigod and the centaur.

"...Why did HE come to you? You should be the last person he goes for help!" Percy replies, clearly shocked.

"I can see everywhere on earth and that is something he needs to solve this problem" Apollo says,"But I have the whole "driving the sun" going on so I need someone to do the action.".

"So you were looking for the chosen one, than you see me going berserk and it just hit you." Percy's voice sounds flat.

"Well, it's clear that you need help, and I need help, too. So with this quest, we can help each others! I can even paid you if you want!" Apollo says enthusiastically. But, suddenly, his voice changes: "But the quest will be hard. And it will be long. I can find someone else if you want." He looks into Percy's eyes: "...But something tells me I'm in the right place."

silence once again fills the room. Chiron hates to admit this, but he feels like an idiot right now. He can't make out anything when he looks at Percy. His face looks so... calculated, like... _Like Annabeth,_ Chiron realises.

"Tomorrow morning." Percy suddenly says.

"Pardon me?" Apollo asks almost innocenctly.

"We leaving at tomorrow's morning" Percy says again, clearly annoyed.

"You don't want to take time to sort things out? Say goodbye? Anything?" Chiron asks.

"...No." Percy replies. "Actually, I want you to do something for me, both of you."

"Hmm?"

"Erased everything about me. Don't tell anyone about my quest." Percy says.

That immediately makes an impact. Chiron stands up, forgets that he is in his office and almost hits his head. Even Apollo, who was being playful for the most parts, shows some attentions.

"What?" Chiron asks, can't believes in his ears.

"Everything about me: birth certificate, school profile,..., even parking tickets. I want you to erased it all. anything that is related to me, I want you to wipe it off the face of the earth." Percy's face remains completely calm.

"Do you have any ideas, ANY IDEAS AT ALL how that would affect your life?!" Chiron asks, his voice raises up.

"If this quest is like Apollo said it is, and it is about THAT god, I may have a few... unpleasant encounters. This quest is mine, I don't want anyone who knows me has to suffer the consequence!" Percy argues back. The two glares at each other, until Percy says, his eyes pleading:

"Please, do me this one favor. Just this one"

"... I'll see what I can do" Chiron finally gives in.

"Thank you." Percy says, almost make a whisper.

"...It's settle, then." Apollo finally joins in "Go do whatever you need to do. We're going when the sun rises."


	6. Departure

Chiron stands at the beach, watching as the sky slowly light up. He has been watching heroes going on their quest for so long, maybe even too long. Some came back victory, gained fame, success, their names were remembered for millenias. But some... didn't. They left back their loved ones, who kept waiting and waiting, waiting for their lost child, friend... for their lover to come back, just to realise that... they wouldn't. And this time, maybe he will witness one more person to go.

Suddenly, a voice breaks the silence:

"Want to say goodbye?". Chiron turns back so fast that he almost has a whiplash. Behind him, stands Apollo.

"Apollo, I thought you should have picked Percy up by now." Chiron releases a breath he was holding.

"Oh, you remembered not to add the word "Lord". I'm impressed." Apollo grins "Most people forget about that within 5 minutes.".

"I have a good memory, 3000 years give you a lot of stuff to remember." Chiron answers simply.

"Yeah, that's the hard part about being immortal, isn't it? So much to remember, yet so little are important."

"You still haven't answer my question yet. Why haven't you picked Percy up?" Chiron asks the question again.

"He said that he would came here by himself. Beside, he needs to deal with his apartment, the boy has made quite a mess there" Apollo replies casually.

"How foolish could he be... Leaving everything behind like this..."

"We can't blame him. Love can make people do things no one can imagine. You must have seen some examples." Apollo says, a hint of sadness slips in his voice.

"...Lord Aphrodite seems to have a thing for this couple." That's not a question, but rather a statement.

"Oh, don't get me start on that! She talks about them constantly, like they are the last couple on Earth! Everytime she watches them through her magic mirror, she acts like she has become dehydrated." Apollo sighs, swing his arms up dramatically "She makes it look like the second coming of Christ!"

"Then why did she do this?" Chiron asks.

"Maybe she wanted to test them, maybe she just do it for fun." Apollo replies. "But... it seems that she went too far this time." Apollo's face turns gloommy.

"..."

"No more questions?" Apollo asks, snaps Chiron out of his thought.

"No. I'm just thinking about what is going to happen now." Apollo raises an eyebrow "He going on a long-time quest, he finishes it, then... what? He just going to come back here and continues his life? Maybe a few apologises will be needed, but... that's it?" Chiron adds.

"If you want my honest opinion, I don't know." Apollo shrugs "Being the god of prophecies doesn't give you access to all the answers in the universe.I only know as much as you do. Maybe he will go back, maybe he won't, maybe something we can't even imagine happens. Who knows? The sisters of Faith like to keep things in the dark."

"Yeah...We can only hope..." Chiron says, deeps in his thought again.

They stand in silence, listening to the waves, get lost in their own thought.

After what seems like forever, Chiron and Apollo hears footsteps behind them. They turn around and see Percy walking toward them, wearing all black, it makes him almost dissapears in the night. He only takes a travel backpack with him, which is black as well.

"Oh my... Nico is gonna sue you for stealing his style, you know?" Apollo examines Percy, a smirk slowly appears on his face.

"Nico needs to know about this to sue me." Percy replies sarcastiaclly, but there's no humor in his voice "Beside, wearing bright-color clothes and walk into the camp at over midnight is not a good idea. The harpies are looking hungry back there."

"Glad to see you still have that attitude with you" Apollo says without a hint of irony "You might need it to talk your way out of troubles. Now, you twos say goodbyes, do whatevers left you need to do, while I'm going to prepare our transportation.". The sun god walks away, leaving the centaur and the demigod behind.

"So... You're leaving." Chiron tries to break the awkwardness, but just make it worse.

A twitch appears on Percy's lips and dissapears, so fast that Chiron almost misses it "That I am. Didn't you say you have something to give me?"

"Oh, yeah! that..." Chiron's thought comes back to yesterday, when Percy and Apollo leave the camp. He has called out to Percy, but he thought he didn't hear that."One second... Ah! Here, take this, you'll need this." He takes something blue out of his gilet pocket.

A smartphone. It is in mint condition, the screen doesn't have a single scratch. The phone has the appearance of a Sony phone, but there is no brand. the back is a beautiful sea blue color, it reminds Percy of Montauk, when he used to gone there with his mother, with _her_...

Snaps out of the memories, Percy looks at Chiron, only to see his piercing eyes.

"Uhhh... Is this a bit too much?You know that demigods don't get on well with technology. And where do you even get it? You aren't really a techno geek, are you?"

"No, I'm not. This is from Leo." Percy's eyes widden "He made this a few months ago. He sent me this one for "review", he said. But it was too confusing for me so I put it away. Now, I give it back to you.I think that it's more for young people like you than me."

"But you know that this will just inform all of the monsters in a miles radius that there is food for them everytime I use it. You can just give me an amublance horn and it will be safer. " Percy says, giving the phone a skeptical look.

Chiron chuckles "Do I need to tell you again who made this? Leo has put some kind of chips in there to make sure that the user will be "invisible" to monsters. I have tried that, it worked. And he says that it can "update the hardware itself", whatever that means. It has a lot more features, but you can read it in the setting. Just take it, for me."Sees that Percy still looks skeptical, Chiron adds "You can save quite a bit of Drachma, you know."

Percy takes the phone, hold it like a hand grenade. The phone is incredibly light, despite how big it is.

"...I don't know how I can respond to this. How can I thank you..." Percy replies, still amazed by the gift.

"You can stay" Chiron says simply.

Percy's face darken, the scar on his face makes him looks sinister "You know it's not that simple." Brown eyes and green eyes staring into each others, trying to win a silent battle.

"...Fair enough." Chiron sighed "But don't be cocky! Promise me that you'll be safe. Can you do that?"

"...I'll try my best." is all he gets back.

"Well, still better than nothing." Chiron mutters while Percy puts the phone inside his bag.

"Protect them for me, will you?" Percy looks at Chiron, his eyes pleading.

"I will." Chiron reassures Percy.

A bright light suddenly appears behind them. They turn back, and see a red Maserati, as bright as the sun, maybe because _it is the sun._

"Hurry up! Dawn is coming!" Apollo cries out to Percy.

"Guess it's time, then." Percy puts a hand out.

"A handshake? Really?" Chiron asks, clearly amused.

"I want to make this formal, and I know you're a classic person." Percy replies. Chiron grabs his hand for a second, then release it.

"Your information has been cleared as well, if you want to know."

"...Thank you."

Percy walks toward the Maserati, where Apollo is waiting. He says something, Chiron can only hear a word: "accommodation". Percy takes a look into the camp, then gets in the car. Just seconds later, the car takes off, leaving Chiron and the camp behind.

 **OK, sooo... Hey, it's me, your lovely author.**

 **Uhh... How do I write an author note?**

 **So you have finished the first part of the mess of a story that I'm making. I gotta be honest... I have never been in a relationship before. So if you see the story becomes too chessy or maybe just complete bullshit, I'm sorry. In the beginning, I just had an idea, and I want to write it out. This was supposed to be short, much shorter that it turns out to be. But I have more ideas and... Yeah, now we're here.**

 **We will have one more chapter to wrap up this... phase, I guess you can call it that. Than, we can get into the real story. Thank you for reading, leave a review if you want to, and... Until the next time.**


	7. A train to book

Annabeth hasn't been outside for 2 weeks now. For 2 weeks, she has been repeating a boring cycles: Wakes up, brushes her teeth, eats breakfast, then moping around the house. Sometimes she might played with her half-brothers, or helped Helen with the chores. But then sooner or later, they all started asking her about what happened, so she drops it after a week. Now, she just sit in her room, surfing the Internet, drawing sketches of ideas she has in mind for rebuilding Mount Olympus. The room is littered with papers and broken pencils, but Annabeth doesn't care. She needs something, _anything_ , to keep herself busy, keeps her from thinking at _him_...

NO! don't think about him! Annabeth furiously hit the pencil onto the table, causing the top to break. She lets out a frusturated groan and leans back into her chair, burries her face in her hands. Why is she so pathetic!? She is Annabeth Chase, daughter of Athena, Heroes of Olympus, Architect of Olympus, a member of the Sevens, the one who found Athena's statue and defeated Arachne, Athena's arch enemy. She has even survived Tartarus, for Gods's sake! So why is she sitting here, her creativity is blocked,her mind is fuzzy, thinking about... about _him_?

 _Because he is what kept you going. He is your strengh. You can't deny it. You would have died a thousands times without him-_

Annabeth pushes the voice in her head away. She takes a deep breath, then twos. _You can do this,_ she says to herself, _calm down, maybe take a rest, you will be fine, you just need to-_

Someones knocks on her bedroom door. Holds back a groan, Annabeth stands up to open the door, and almost falls flat on her butts. She has been sitting for 2 hours, her legs is numb. Silently curses herself, Annabeth wobbly walks to the door and opens it, reveals Federick Chase on the other side.

"Dad? Is something wrong? Did Bobby and Mathew started to fight again? Can I help-"

"No! No, someones wants to talk to you." Her father quickly stops her and hands her the phone "She sounded very worried."

"Thanks, dad." Annabeth gives him a quick smile before shutting the door off. Then, she turns to the phone "Hi, it's Annabeth Chase. who is speaking?"

"ANNABETH! Thank Gods you're here!" Annabeth realises the voice immediately.

"Sally? What happenned? Are you okay?" Suddenly, a horrifying thought occurs to her "Is there something wrong with Estelle? Is she-"

"No! She's fine. It's Percy. Something happended and... and..."

Annabeth's blood runs cold.

"...What happened?" is all she can uttered.

"He's gone, Annabeth. He's gone! I can't find him! I can't... I... can't..." Sally sounds terrified, Annabeth can hears her voice shaking. But she doesn't cares. All she can hears is the buzzing noise in her ears getting louder and louder, all she can feels is the cold running down her spine. She would have droped her phone if her hands wasn't completely frozen. All of a sudden, she feels herself losing balance. Her legs is like noodles now, too weak to carry her own body. Annabeth has to grab the chair to keep herself from falling.

 _No,_ Annabeth thoughts finally comes to her. _The Fates couldn't be this cruel. They couldn't. They couldn't pull a stunt like this. They couldn't... They..._

 _But they could, and they did._

"Annabeth? ANNABETH!" Sally's voice pulls Annabeth back "Are you there?" Her voice is now full of concern.

"I'm here. I'm here." Annabeth tries to take a deep breath, and barely successes. "How long have you been looking for him?"

"I tried to call him 3 days ago, but he didn't picked up, so I came to the apartment to see if he's OK, and... There's nothing there! The whole place was abandoned! I have been to everywhere I could think of but he's nowhere to be seen!" Sally cries out loud.

"Have you contacted the Camp yet?" Annabeth asked, slowly fixing her posture.

...

"I...haven't, yet. It usually brings bad luck..." Sally sounds like a kid gets caught cheating in an exam, but Annabeth can't blames her. In Sally's eyes, camp Half Blood responsibles for all the accidents that has happended to Percy. It was supposed to be a safe haven for demigods like him, but it just kept throwing him into fights, battles, life-threatening situations. She has got her son taken away from him ( _by a stupid goddess who wanted to fufill a prophecy_ ), in the Camp's land, a few months after he risked his life. She understands what has to be done, but she doesn't like it.

"Okay. There's a train from San Feancisco to New York tomorrow. I'll be there, then we're going to sole this together, okay?" Annabeth reassures Sally.

"...OK." is all she receives.

"Just get some rest. I'll be there. We will find Percy, and we are going to whoop his ass." Annabeth says.

Sally laughs, even though her voice sounds broken. "Right... Just be here quick, please.". Then, the call ended.

Puts the phone down, Annabeth closes her eyes for a minute, sits down on her chair and takes her laptop out. She has a train to book.

 **OH BOYS! Finally!**

 **Sorry for the long wait. I'm so fucking lazy, I know. This chapter is hard to write. I don't know how to captures Annabeth's feeling, but I tried anyway. There will only one more chapter, I swear. I know that I said the same thing in the last chapter, but this time will be the final one to end this phase. Once again, I'm sorry. Thank you for waiting and... Until the next time.**


	8. Who will know

It was a long, uncomfortable ride and Annabeth constantly felt like her stomach was on fire. But at last, she arrives at the NY station. It is filled with people: Old, young, male, female,... walking back and forth. She makes her way through the crowd and walks toward the station's door. The doors slide open and reveals an old Prius on the other side. A very familiar-looking woman is waiting impatiently next to the car.

"Sally?" Sure enough, the woman's head shoots up, her blue eyes open wide.

"Oh god! You're finally here!" Sally rushes up to Annabeth "I was getting worried that something has happened!" Sally looks tired. Her eyes bags is visible, her movement looks slows and Annabeth remember that she didn't tell her when she will arrive.

"Wait... how long have you been waiting out here?" Annabeth asks as they're getting in the car.

"Uh... A few hours, maybe?" Sally shrugs and starts the engine.

"What?! Why didn't you call me?" Annabeth jaw drops.

"I... My mind was fuzzy. Beside, I couldn't slept, so I decided to went to the station early. And beside, we can go directly to the camp, you won't have to catch a taxi to my house." Sally replies, giving Annabeth a reasurring smile.

"Oh..." Annabeth manages a small replies back.

The engines roars and the car starts rolling. The car is old and a bit dusty, but to Annabeth, it feels like home. For a few moments, the ride feels... awkwards. Neither of the woman says anything. Then, Sally decides to break the silence. Unfortunately, she asks the question that Annabeth has been avoiding for a whole week:

"Do you have anything you'd like to tell me? Anything that happened?" Her voice is full of concern, which only make Annabeth feels worse about herself.

"No. Everything is fine. Perfect." Annabeth answers, looking out of the window.

"I know that voice, Annabeth, I've heard it enough time to know that you're hiding something." Sally sighed "Look, I won't pressure you to talk, but... you know you can always talk to me, right?" Sally looks at Annabeth, but she's still gazing out at the window.

"Ok, we're almost there-"

"We had a fight." Annabeth suddenly speaks.

"Pardon me?" Sally blinks.

"Camp Half Blood had a party a few weeks ago. We went there, had some fun and just hanging out. Then, some campers from the Hermes's cabin brought out a bottle of liquor. I don't know how they managed to sneaked that in. Percy tried to say no, but they insisted, so he took a shot, then two, then three,... He finally stoped after the 8th shots. He was drunk and started to act up. We had an argument in the middle of the whole camp started to noticed something was off. Chiron had to come out to stop us. He told Argus to take us , well... We had a fight. A big fight." Annabeth finally looks at Sally "We screamed and shouted and breaked stuff. Finally, Percy reached his breaking point and said... Nevermind." Sally raises her eyebrows "Then I ran out of the apartment, bought a train ticket to San Fransisco. That's it."

"Wow. That's... unexpected. I didn't know-"

"It's been a bad year, Sally. Problems just keep coming and coming. When we managed to solve one, two more appear. It's just... fustrating, you know? We thought that we could finally have a normal life, just stop caring about gods and prophercies. And..." Annabeth's voice trails off.

Sally doesn't replies, she looks at Annabeth one more time, than she looks back at the road.

"Hey, we're here." Sally says quietly. Annabeth looks up and sees that they have reached the hill of the camp. The camp looks so... peaceful. So calm. Just 2 years ago, the camp was almost destroyed by an evil Roman emperor. Sometimes, Annabeth wonders how the camp get back to normal so fast.

"Let's go." Annabeth mutters ro herself and gets out of the car. They walk up the hill, but Sally walks as slow as possible, as if she has already known what's happended to her son, she just doesn't want to acknowledge it. Frankly, Annabeth wants to turn around too, but she needs to be strong for both of them, she can't shows her fear now. They come to the camp's border and Sally stops.

"Uh... How do I get in?" Sally looks at Annabeth.

"Oh, I'm sorry! just a second." Annabeth gives Sally an apologetic look. "I, Annabeth Chase, give you permission to enter camp.". Sally takes a step up. She gets over the border with no problem.

The camp slowly reveals itself. Annabeth can see the Golden Fleece now, dangling on the Thalia's pine cones tree. On top of the hill, the Athena Parthenos is standing tall like a protector. Annabeth can still feels the pain at her ankle everytime she looks at it. she took a trip to hell for that statue (literally). Even though it was for the two camps, she still feels bitter sometimes.

The Big House appears in front of their eyes. The baby-blue painting has faded over time, but other than that, the house's still in good condition. And right outside the house is a person she considered a father figure.

"Chiron!" Annabeth runs up to the centaur. Chiron's neck turns around so fast that he almost has a whiplash. His eyes widden and for a second, Annabeth thinks she saw something in there. Then, he smiles and gaits toward her.

"Annabeth! What's brought you here? I was getting worried." Chiron looks at her and says, then notices who's ebehind her and his face turns pale.

"You're... you're..." Chiron stutters, his tail whips back and forth in an uneasily way.

"I'm Sally Jackson. We haven't met in person before." Sally cuts him off hastily "I won't come here if it's something urgent."

Chiron's face immediately turns grim.

"You come to ask for Percy." Chiron says and Annabeth's heart misses a beat.

"You know where he is ?Please, tell me!" Sally walks up to Chiron, trembling.

"I'm sorry, ma'am, but I can't." Chiron says and turns his back on them.

"What? What do you mean? Where is he? Where is my son? WHERE IS HE?!" Sally screams, causing Annabeth to jumps.

Chiron stays silence for a moment, then he turns back, and the look in his eyes...

"I don't know. He's gone, ma'am. I'm sorry, but... He's gone."

Annabeth feels like she just looked directly at Medusa. Sally looks absolutely terrified, her face's as pale as a paper. She is trembling, or maybe Annabethis the one who's trembling. After what feels like a lifetime, she manages to speak, even though her jaws feels like concrete.

"Why?" Annabeth stutters, feels so dizzy that she's going to puke. She looks at Chiron, her eyes keep getting out of focus.

"He has his reasons, Annabeth. I can't tell if it's for better or worse. I don't know where he is, what's he doing now,... I'm sorry-"

Suddenly, a loud noise crashes behind them. Looking back, Annabeth sees Sally collapsing on the ground. Her eyes hold so much fear, she covers her mouth as if she's trying to stop a scream and barely success. Annabeth kneels down next to her and puts her hand on her forehead. It's abnormally cold.

"Help! Call me some medics!" Annabeth shouts. 2 Apollo campers run up and carries Sally away. Then she turns back to Chiron, who looked sorrowful. She feels anger boiling inside her body.

"You see that, Chiron? Sally is a mother, a mother who's worried for her son, so much that she's fallen sick. You have information, yet you keep it from us. So, tell me, Where. Is. Percy?" Annabeth grinds her teeth. With each sentence, she takes a step forward. Chiron stands still, his mouth still shuts. She's about to shout in his face when she notices something moving behind him.

That's a boy running up to them. His posture seems... off. Then she sees it. HIs legs is not human's, they're goat legs. And the boy is...

"Grover!" Annabeth runs past Chiron towards her best friend. After 7 years, Grover hasn't changed a bit. Being a satyr, he ages half as fast as humans do, so he still looks like a teenager, eventhough he's almosts 40 now. Grover is the Lord of the Wild, he gotta goes away all the times, so Annabeth wonders what makes him comes back.

"Annabeth! You're here! I was worried that you're getting hurted and-" Grover hugs Annabeth so tight that she feels like her ribs were broken.

"Whoa! slow down there, goat boy. Take a breath, then tell me what happened. You look like you've just run back here from Missouri." Annabeth cuts Grover off. Indeed, he looks exausted. He's sweating heavily, he has visible bags under his eyes. He seems... sick.

"It's Kansas, but it doesn't matters." Grover breaths in shakily, he only takes a glance at Chiron who just catches up to them. "I felt it, Annabeth. I felt it, it's gone..."

"What's gone?" Annabeth asks. Grover starts shaking, his voice trembling.

"The Empathy Link with Percy. It's gone. I can still feel it now. That feeling... " Grover whispers, but Annabeth hears it clearly.

It feels like someone punches in her guts, again.

"The boy doesn't want to be found" Chiron speaks behind her "He cuts off our only way to find him."

"What if... what if it's something worse, Chiron? The Empathy Link can be cut off if one of the two people is... is..." Annabeth starts to choke. She doesn't want to think about that. She can't.

"We wouldn't know" Chiron replies simply "He doesn't want anyone to know."

Those words echo in Annabeth head. They wouldn't know...

She wouldn't know...

She would never see him again.

 **Over a month...**

 **It took me over a month to write this...**

 **Writer block is such a bitch.**

 **Or maybe I'm just so lazy...**

 **Anyway, it's finally here. HO DAMN, it's hard. Now, we can get into the main story. Demigods, Shadowhunters,... Sounds hard, but sounds fun, too. Let's see how the story turns out, shall we?**

 **I'm sorry for being so lazy. Thank you for waiting and... Until the next time.**


	9. Let's get the party started!

7 YEARS LATER...

"Annabeth! Hurry up or we gonna be late!" Piper's voice can be heard from a mile away.

"Give me a minute, will you? I'm wearing a very, very tight dress here and I would love to have some helps!" Annabeth shouts .

"I'm finishing my make-up!" Piper shouts back. Annabeth sighs. They only have 15 minutes left to prepare themselves. In Annabeth defense, it's Piper's fault. She was the one who dragged them to the shopping mall saying that she needed a better dress. After 2 _HOURS_ , they finally found it: A long, sleeveless, simple silver dress. Piper said it was *the one*, although Annabeth thought it was a bit over-exaggerated. Nico and Will, others members of the Sevens are waiting, at least the remaining members...

The party they're attending is a party that features a lot of artists and of course, one of the sponsors is Dare Enterprises. The featured artists weren't announced, but Rachel has spilled some names. She gave them VIP tickets and told them to come and enjoy the night. Personally, Annabeth thinks she doesn't want to go alone and talks to strangers all night.

"HA! Finally!" Annabeth triumphs. After 20 painful minutes of her life, she's finally able to zip her dress. The dress is nice, she not gonna lie, but putting it on was an absolute nightmare. Now, the accessories. She puts her earrings on, and...

"Oh come on... Where is it?" Annabeth curses inside her head. She has lost her necklace, _again_. it's a necklace with a red crystal owl in front of it, a gift from her mother. She can't believe she lost it at a time like this. She checks under the blanket: nothing. She checks her worktable: nothing. The drawer: Empty. It's nowhere in her sight.

"For the love of gods..." Annabeth digs through her shiny caught her eyes. There it is, in the drawer where she kept her old stuff. The necklace's emitting a silver light, almost like a light house. How did it get in there? Annabeth pick it up and wears it around her neck. Then, she sees something else.

The old shell necklace Percy gave her.

Annabeth stares at it like a nuclear bomb. That necklace brings back memories, good and bad. Carefully, she picks it up and examines. The necklace is still in good condition. There're a few scratches here and there, but other than that, it's fine. She remembers why it's in there. That day, after hearing Chiron's statement, Annabeth went into a shock state and fainted. She had to stay in the camp's infirmary for a week. Sally wasn't any better, Annabeth heard her cried in her sleeps. When Will Solace allowed her to leave, she immediately went for searching Percy. She asked everyone she knows, went on countless quests,... Grover, Nico, Thalia, Rachel, Reyna,... Everyone tried to help her. Even Clarisse helped. But it's still not enough .Each time she came back empty-handed, she became more desperate. Then, after 1 and a half _years_ , Annabeth gave up. She felt so tired, so drained that she finally decided to let him go. She went to Sally's apartment and imagined how she will tell her. The truth is... The moment Sally opened the door, Annabeth just straight up crying. Sally understood. She took Annabeth in, gave her a hot drink, then cried with her for the rest of the night. She passed out on the couch and have a dreamless sleep. Soon after that, she told everyone. That was an awful day for the whole camp. When she came back San Francisco, she threw away everything that reminded her of him.

Everything but this. Not this.

The necklace gives her a feeling of comfort, but also... sadness. She holds it close to her chest, the coldness of the shells make her shivers. Sometimes Annabeth can't help but wonder: Where is he now? What is he doing? Is he still alive? She had asked Nico to try to summon him, but he said there's something wrong, something's blocking him. He even went to the Underworld itself, and found nothing. That means he's still alive... right?

Over 5 years later, she's moved on. She finished college in New Rome (in a record's amount of time), found a job at a famous architecture company in NYC, made some new friends, moved into Piper's apartment to save the money (Annabeth will never say it out loud, but Piper is the best housemate she can ask for), ... She's even have a new boyfriend! they've been dating for 3 years, the relationship is going strong. A lot of things have happened, too. Nico and Will have officially confirmed their relationship, they found out that Reyna has been hiding her relationship (Reyna's face was so red that she looked like she got sunburned), Leo proposed to Calypso and married a year later (Hazel cried so hard that it seemed like she got an anxiety attack),... Sally and Estelle are doing great, too. She still visit them on the weekends, having cookies and relaxing. Estelle is like a sister she never has. She's in elementary school now, and she is smart, though she likes social activities more.

Everything is almost perfect. Almost.

Some nights, Annabeth can still hears Piper's sobbing into her pillows. She still misses Jason. His death was a critical hit for all of them. Piper took the hardest hit. She broke up with him, only to realise she still loved him. Ironic, isn't it? The daughter of the goddess of love can't have the one she loves the most.

For Annabeth... The images of the raven-hair boy still cross her mind. What if she hadn't left that apartment, what if he hadn't left?

"Are you finish?" Piper knocks on the door, startled her. She quickly puts the necklace back into the drawer and closes it. Piper walks in and grins.

"Damn, you look good. I told ya, this dress is perfect you!" She gives Annabeth a big smile.

"You're not too bad yourself." Annabeth smirks. Indeed, Piper is wearing a striking deep V-neck dress. Her make-up, although minimum, is on point, her hair is braided perfectly. She looks amazing.

"Let's go, then! The taxi's arrived, so we're better get down there!" Piper says hurriedly as they're leaving the apartment.

"Don't worried too much. You're going to a party, not a job interview!" Annabeth replies, and Piper sticks her tongue out to her.

And Annabeth thought: Yeah... life's good now. She should be appreciated for the present. She will lives to her fullest. She will go out there, creates new memories and lets the past go.

But the past doesn't let her go that easily.

* * *

Percy doesn't want to go to the party, he really doesn't. A formal party where people have to be polite and courteous? Thank you, next. But Clary was so excited for the party, and the voice she used when she asked him to come was so hopeful that he couldn't refused. she said it was a big party with music and stuff, and it will be fun. Percy gave in after a good ammount of convincing, it may or may not have been for the fact that Jace was giving him a look while Clary was talking. The others are going to be there too: Simon, Isabelle, Magnus and Alec. Magnus was able to got his hand on the VIP tickets, somehow. For a few reasons, Percy doubts that he paid for it.

Percy's pretty sures that he's getting late now. To be fair, it's his housemate's fault. She forced him to go shopping since he didn't have anything "decent" to wear. Girls...

About 2000 years later, they found it: A dark blue suit and a brown pairs of shoes. The suit looks good, the shoes are comfortable to wear, but the price... His wallet is drier than the Sahara desert now. His housemate insisted on getting it, and she paid half of the price, but Percy still feels the pain now.

Percy looks out at the balcony, his hand mindlessly twists his ring. New York... He never thought one day he would come back here. It holds lots of memories, some good ones, some bad ones, some... sad ones. 7 years ago, he left the place. He's visited numerous countries, met some incredible people and made 2 new... companions along the way. He met them 5 years ago, and since then, they have stayed with him. They're surprisingly OK with the whole "constantly on the run and working a job that getting killed is an occupational hazard" thing, too. Maybe being immortal warlocks make people become bolder?

His housemates is the reasons he found out about the world of Nephilims. Shadowhunters, warlocks, werewolfs, vampires,... A whole new world appeared in front of his eyes. He learned a bunch of things from them, including an explanation to one of his questions...

Percy will never see the end of this if they hear him, but their company is something he holds dear in his heart. They've been through a lot of thing for him and with him, they stayed even when he pushed them away. He's told them almost everything and they listened. He hopes that they wouldn't find out what he's lied about tonight...

They've been back to New York for a whole year now. As far as he knows, his cover hasn't been blown off. No one knows he is back. Hell, they may not even know that he's still alive. Sometimes, he sees them: his old friends. He wants to tell them he's back so badly, but they looked so happy that he couldn't do it. What will he do after that? Tries to fit in, pretends that everything is normal again?

He's seen his mother, Paul and Estelle, too. They seemed happy together. Gods, Estelle looks so innocent, so pure. Does she know that she has a brother who'd left her?

And Annabeth... After all these years, she hasn't left his mind once. He sees her everywhere he goes, especially here. She's finally achieved her dream, working in a prestige architecture company. Her mark on all of the buildings she designed is so obvious; he has seen them in her blueprints more times than he can count. However, while it makes him feels so proud, it also give him a great feeling of sadness. Percy realizes how much potential Annabeth held back while they were together and it hurts. Maybe it was better for him to leave...

The scar on his face feels sting. It's been a reminder for Percy about his mistakes since day one. There's also that mark. That damn mark...

"PERCY! you done there, mate?" A voice snaps Percy out of his thoughts. His housemates have finished. Percy can hear them walking toward his bedroom. He buttons up the jacket and ties his bow tie just as they come in. The girl looks gorgeous: she's wearing a red off shoulder dress and a pairs of high heels. Her make up, her hair, they're all perfectly done. The guy looks good, too: all-black suit from top to toes. The girl must have gave him a hand. They've used their magic to hide the abnormal parts of their appearance. They stare at him and Percy grins.

"Like what you're seeing?" He asks.

"You're looking fine, like damn fine." The girl replies "And you know how to tie a bow tie! Unlike Monkey over here, that's a bonus."

"Hey!" The guy protests "It wasn't that bad! Besides, I'm just not good at wearing fancy clothes. Just give me a T-shirt and a pair of jeans, please!"

"Stop complaining about the suit, Wu." The girl sighs "We are going to a big event and-"

"Okay, okay, we get it already, Fox." Percy cuts them off "Let just get going now. We're already late."

"Shit, you're right." The girl looks at her watch "Let's go, then."

"Hey, you're okay?" The guy stops him at the door "You seem a bit off here."

"Ah, nothing" Percy shakes his head "Just thinking about social interaction, i don't like it that much."

"Oh, quit it!" The girl pats his back hard "Put on your happy face, it's an order. You are not going to this party with a bad mood."

"Roger that." Percy chuckles.

"Tell us if there's anything off," She says sincerely "We help each other, always. Just remember that, Percy."

As they're leaving, Percy thought: This life... isn't that bad. One day, after he finishes his job, maybe he will come back. For now, let's just forget reality for a little while.

Of course, reality still finds a way to sneak on him.

 **This chapter contains a lot of information, doesn't it?**

 **Let's recap everything we knew so far:**

 **For Annabeth and other people:**

 **\+ Annabeth went searching for Percy for 1.5 years before she gave up. She threw away everything related to Percy, except for the shell necklace.**

 **+She's moved on, finished college, found a job, moved in with Piper and has a new boyfriend (please don't kill me, I beg you).**

 **+Reyna's in a relationship (might do a fanfic about that), Leo and Calypso is married (might do a fanfic about that, too), Solangelo is real now (this one is an interesting idea),...**

 **+Estelle is in elemetary school now, she may or may not know about Percy.**

 **+Piper hasn't gotten over Jason's death (Damn you, Rick...).**

 **For Percy:**

 **\+ He's back to New York for a year and no one knows. (might have something to do with the Mist...).**

 **+He met the Shadowhunters gang (I have an idea about how they met, but feel free to give more opinions).**

 **+He has been living and traveling with 2 warlocks for 5 years, they're the reason that he found out about nephilims.**

 **+The Shadowhunters world gives him an answer to one of his questions**

 **+He has some kind of mark on him ( this mark is quite special).**

 **+Last but not least, Percy and Annabeth is going to the same party (Oh boys, shit's about to go down...)**

 **Thank you for reading. Leave a review and follow this story if you want to, that means a lot to me. I have a side question for you: Who do you think is better at drawing: Clary or Rachel? Apart from that... Well, until the next time.**

 **P/S: There's something I need to confess: I've only read the Mortal Instruments series. I know there're sequels after that, but I couldn't find anyplace in my city that sells them. I've searched the timeline, but I think I've missed some information. I apologize for the if what I write about the Shadowhunters world is incorrect. Thank you for understanding.**


	10. A new friend

Annabeth walks out of the taxi and gazes upon the building in awe. The building, which was just built last year, is a 30-storey tall building with a Greek asthetic. The rooftop is where the party being held, Annabeth can already see the party lights going crazy.

"Beth, you there?" Piper walks up next to her, snaps her back into reality " Are you... drooling all over the building?"

"NO! I'm just admiring it!" Annabeth protests "This buiding is a masterpiece! Just look at the design of the doors! And then the pillars-"

"Okay, okay!" Piper stops her "I get it! This building is the second coming of Christ, blah, blah, blah. Now, let's forget about your job for a moment and enjoy this party!"

"You're the worst..." Annabeth grumbles. Piper ignores her and heads into the building. Annabeth runs after her, cursing inside her head. _How the Tartarus does Piper walk so effortlessly in these heels?_

Piper notices Annabeth struggles and gives her a shit-eating grin "Need help?"

"Shut up." Annabeth shoots a glare at Piper, who bursts out laughing. Together, they get into the elevator and go up to the rooftop.

Now, the best party that Annabeth has ever attended to is, without a doubt, Mount Olympus's party. But a party that is sponsored by some of the most powerful company in NYC? That's pretty much the best thing you can get in the mortal world. They walk out of the elevator and into what can be described as "Heaven on Earth". The venue has a dark-color wood floor and decorated with a simple yet modern style. Half of the venue is indoors, the rest is on the balcony, which leads to one of the best views in the city. The venue is filled with string lights, making it looks even more magical. There's even an outdoors bar for those who wants to get a little tipsy. All around them, guests are talking and laughing, clearly enjoying the amazing night. Waiters and waitresses walking back and forth, serving the thirsty and hungry guests.

"By the gods..." Annabeth is speechless. Surrounded by all these fancy people and the dazzling environment, Annabeth feels so _cheap_. She suddenly have a new feeling appreciation toward Piper for choosing this dress for her. Just moments ago, Annabeth thought that she could've worn a T-shirt and a pairs of jeans and that's _enough_. Beside her, Piper is no difference. Her eyes open so wide that Annabeth afraids they're gonna fall out of the socket. However, Piper quickly regains her composure and confidently walks inside the ocean of people, tries to find their table. Annabeth is not that lucky. By the time that her brain came back online, she has already lost sight of Piper. She runs into the crowd... and collides with someone.

Annabeth gets the wind knocked out of her, but still manages to stand on her feets. She has bumed into another girl. "Ow!" The poor girl is knocked down immediately. Some guests around them gasp, some laugh, some of them are polite enough to avoid them, but none helps her stands up. Beauty is really just skin-deep.

"Oh gods! I'm so sorry! Are you oka-" Annabeth quickly apologize and gives the girl a hand, but her voice stops mid-way "Rachel?"

The girl looks up, and unfortunately, she's not Rachel. They shares the same firing red hair color and the green eyes, but that's it. While Rachel has frizzy hair, this girl's hair is in smooth curls, and her eyes is a bright emerald shade of green, unlike Rachel's forest green eyes. She has the beauty of a doll. And the girl has a lot of tatoos, some very-strange looking ones. They look ... devine, somehow...

Is that... an aura of energy?

The mystery girl quickly takes her arm and stands up. Annabeth is surprised: She is small, even with her high heels on, she is just about 5'2, but she's surprisingly strong.

"Oh, no need to apologize, I'm the one that need to-" The girl frowns "Wait, who's Rachel?"

Annabeth blinks "Oh, it's nothing. I just mistook you with my friend, that's all. I apolo-"

"Please, you don't have to, I'm the one that have to say sorry." The girl cuts her off "I can never cope with these high heels. They're the bane of my existence!" She smiles apologetic.

Annabeth lets out a huge sigh. Thank gods, She has bumped into someone who seems easy-going and has a sense of humor.

"I know, right?! I can never understand how people use this in their daily life" She laughs.

The girl seems to be relieved, too. "Yeah! Walking on these heels is like stilts walking!" She joins in with the laughter "I envy those people who can walk inside this torture devices!"

They laugh even harder, the guests around them are giving them stink eyes. Annabeth decides that she likes this girl.

After a while, the laughter dies down and both girls are panting now. So far, the night has given Annabeth quite a surpirse, and it's a welcome one, too.

"I'm Clary Fairchild, but you can call me Clary." The girl smiles brightly.

"I'm Annabeth Chase, you can call me Annabeth. It's a pleasure to have bumped into you." The girls burst out laughing once more. Oh, the Fates must have had their good day or something. Annabeth's night is going better than she expected.

"It's my pleasure, too" The girl - no, Clary - grins playfully.

She can introduce Piper to her, she will lov-

Piper!

Annabeth pales as the memory hits her, she has totally forgotten about her friends. Piper and the gang must be freaking out right now!

Clary notices something's wrong immediately, she furrows her brows "Hey, is something wrong? You look a bit sick, is it because of the collision?"

"No, I'm fine, really. I just remembered that my friends are waiting for me, but I can't find the table..."

"Ah, I see" Clary gives Annabeth a sympathetic look "I took me forever to find the tables, too. They're put wayyy back there, you have to go through this ocean of people first."

"Damn..." Annabeth mutters.

"Hmmm..." Clary tilts her head and stares at her. Then, she claps her hands "Ok! I will help you!"

Annabeth is stunned by her words. They had just met a few minutes ago, and now she is offering help to her? "Wait, what?! Oh no, you don't have to-"

"Don't be shy!" Clary brushes her off "Let me help. Also, I have to make up for bumping into you, right? Also, I was just checking on some people, but I think they'll be fine."

She is adamant. After a not-so-long staring contest, Annabeth gives in and Clary puffs her chest in triumph. They slowly make their way through the crowd, feeling like walking in quicksand. 2000 years later, they arrive at the table area. It looks amazing, The tables is placed in banquet round style and covered in walnut color tablecloths. What caught Annabeth's attention the most, however, is the huge stage with a grand piano in front of them.

"What's is that for?" Annabeth asks Clary.

"That is where all the artists gonna perform tonight." Clary answers "I think the piano is just for the aesthetic, though. Jace tried to take a look, but the security told him to back off."

Annabeth turns back to Clary "Jace? Is he your boyfriend?"

Clary's face color blends with her hair "Y-yeah. I came here with all my friends, so-"

"ANNIE!" A voice interrupts their conversation. Annabeth looks behind her back, only to be greeted by a furious and worried Piper.

"WHERE THE HELL HAVE YOU BEEN?! DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEAS HOW SCARED I WAS?!" Piper breaths in as if she's prepairing to say more. Then, she notices Clary "Hmm? Who's your new friend here?"

The redhead girl swiftly saves Annabeth from the wraith of Piper "I'm Clary Fairchild. I bumped into Annabeth when we were out there. I'm terribly sorry for that."

"Oh" Piper says, looking back and forth between Clary and Annabeth "I see. I hope that she didn't cause you any harm."

"Hey" Annabeth huffs "I didn't mean to do it!"

"Whatever. We need to go, fast. I don't want to make Hazel cry." Piper smiles apologetic at Clary "I wish we could have more time to talk"

Clary doesn't seem to bother "We can talk when the party's over."

"Thank you!" Annabeth mangages to say one last line before Piper drags her away, leaving the new girl behind.

"Don't grip that hard!" Annabeth scolds as they trying to find their table.

"Don't talk, I'm suppressing my angers." Piper scolds back.

They find their table at the far back, and there their friends are. It's so good to see them again. Hazel, Frank, Leo,... It's been months since they had their last talk.

"Annabethhh!" Hazel tackles her with a hug "I was worried that some monsters attacks you!"

"I'm fine, just have a little problem." Annabeth pats her back and sits down between Frank and Nico.

"Oh, no need to worry." Piper says flatly "She just knocked a girl down."

"Ahah!" Leo leans over the table "Did that girl insulted you? Was it about your hair looks like a crow nest again?"

"Leo!" Calypso frowns at him. She looks really pretty, with her white dress and the pair of sandals.

"Like I said," Annabeth glares at Piper, who is now settles between Calypso and Rachel's sit, which is empty "I got lost and bumped into a girl. She's really nice, offered to help me get through the crowd. Unlike someone here..."

Piper snorts "It's your fault, not mine."

"Ok, chill" Leo stops them from getting any further "Do you know the girl's name?"

"Clary Fairchild. Why do you ask?"

"I may or may not have something I want to test..." Leo answers anxiously, his hands's tapping Morse code.

"Leo Valdez," Annabeth looks straight at Leo "What are you planning?"

Nico sits straight up "Please,don't tell me you are going to make a M&M prank in this place."

"No!" Leo protests "I'm just... Here! Take a look!"

He takes out a pair of... something out of his pocket. they look like a tiny shirt button with paper wings stick on it. That's when it hits Annabeth.

"Are those... spying devices?"

"What?" Frank chokes on his drink. The whole table is now staring at Leo. He shifts uncomfortably, his eyes staring down on the table.

"I finished this a few days ago, but I didn't know where to test it," Leo explains "Then Rachel came with the invitation, and I thought "Hey! A social event with hundreds of people, that's perfect!" "

Hazel stares at Leo in disbelieve "Why would you do that?! It's not nice to listen to other people's conversation!"

"I..." Leo struggles, trying to find the word, then sighs "Yeah, it's not. I'm sor-"

A thought flashs through Annabeth's mind. Clary's tatoos, her aura... Maybe she can find out more...

"Wait." She stops Leo "Give me those."

It's Annabeth's turn to be stared at. She swears there's some gold poping out under Hazel's feets.

"Have your mind finally snapped from all the pressure?" Piper speaks up, expresses what everyone's thinking.

"When I talked to Clary earlier," Annabeth speaks calmly "I saw an aura around her, and she has some really strange tatoos, they seem to contain... powers. She isn't normal, I'm sure of it"

Annabeth sighs "Please, trust me. I just need a quick check. Please."

A long pause follows after what she said. Will, Hazel, Frank and Nico look concern; Piper just stares; Calypso and Leo seems confused.

"Fine" Piper speaks "But, if we don't find anything out of ordinary, will you enjoy this party like a normal person?"

"Yes" Annabeth reassures her "I will"

"...Well then, they're all yours" Leo reluctantly gives her the spying devices. "You says the name of the person you want to spy on, it will automticaly find it way. The other one will let we hear it. Only demigods can hear it, so just put max volume"

"Okay, here goes nothing" Annabeth says the name in the spying devices. The "fly", Annabeth decides it's name, flies up and zooms off. A few seconds later, the speaker catchs something.

"?!- Why are they taking so long?!" A male voice comes out, sounds annoyed.

"They must have their reasons. Be patient, Jace." Another voices comes in, and Annabeth holds her breath.

"That's Clary." She whispers "The other guy must be her boyfriend"

"So far so good!" Leo says enthusiastically "I was thinking it would jammed-"

"Shhh!" Piper cuts him off as another voice appears.

"You are an adult, Jace, don't embarrass us with that childlish attitude!" It's a male voice, sounds much younger, maybe 18 years old.

"Said a 400 years old guy who wants to have gummy bears for breakfast." A girl voice interrupts, but not Clary.

"... Did I just heard that right?" Will looks at Annabeth "400 years old?"

"Don't judge me, sweetheart. Your boyfriend bought kid's cereal for Star Wars figures, remember?" The young male defends himself.

"But those figures were so cool!" Leo whispers loudly, but Frank shushes him off.

"Guys, chill out, okay?" this time, Clary speaks "We are all weird. You shoot magic fire from your hands, I kills demons while disscusing about what to eat for dinner, and Simon used to drink blood on daily basis. Everyone here is the same!"

Annabeth is speechless. Killing demons, magic fires, drinking blood... Are they in a new kind of cults?

"We should call for back-ups." Nico says to Annabeth, his eyes darken "They're something else, something dangerous. You're right, these guys... they're different..."

"I can call Chiron if you want to..." Will pulls out his phone, but Annabeth stops him.

"Listen!" She hisses as the conversation continued on.

"Alright, just tell David that he better not arrives AFTER the party ends, this is way pass the "fashionably late" stage now." "Jace" huffs.

"Annabeth..." Leo whispers. Why can't he just shut up?

"What?"

"Do you feel something?" Leo looks around uneasily. "It's so... quiet?"

"Huh?" Annabeth looks up. Yeah, everything around them is awfully silent. It's a party, not a funeral. But something is catching the whole venue's attention. Then, "something" comes out...

And Annabeth forgets how to breathe.

It's a group of three people. The first one is one of the most stunning girls she has ever seen. With the red off-shoulders dress and high heels, she has the party hall in her hand. After her is a guy in an all-black suit. His hair is the colour of dark roasted beans and his eyes is in a leaf green color. He is carelessly handsome with a big grin on his face. But the last person to come out of the crowd...

Annabeth feels like reality is breaking down around her, piece by piece. Her mouth opens, ready for a scream but there's no sound. What does she want to do? She doesn't know anymore. This...this must be a hallucination... It can't be...

Disheveled, jet black hair; briliant sea-green eyes, a face Annabeth thought she would only see again in her dreams...

Percy jackson.

 **Hello? Is there anyone here?**

 **No? Ok...**

 **For anyone who still has enough patience to wait for a new chapter, this is for you. I'm so sorry for the wait. I really do need help with time-management, don't I?**

 **Well, I have no word to justify my lazy ass so... Until the next time.**


	11. The truth comes out

Annabeth is falling through a memory hole right now, and she doens't know how to get out. Percy... The name bounces in her head like a pachinko . 7 years... It has been 7 years. She had given hope on him, everyone had. They had coped with it, one way or another. Some coped with jokes, some came to alcohol, some faced it head on... Annabeth went through them all, and in the end, it worked, it really did. She has gotten her life back together, she's better now.

But Percy Jackson is back, and he has company.

After all those years, he still hasn't changed that much. One of the few things that changes is his sense of fashion. The old Percy would never dress this nice, even in an event like this. He's wearing a dark blue suit, must have costed a fortune. Another thing is his face, or at least part of it. There's a long scar, running from top left down to his right cheekbone like a washed out fish bone. The injury seems to have never been treated properly, it is rough around the edge and make him looks more sinister, more like...

More like Luke Castellan.

His presence fills the entire hall. The girl in the red dress and the all-black guy may have stunned the crowd, but Percy is the one who prolongs the effect. People whispers about him as he walks through. Women eye him up hungrily, men glower him. But he doesn't care. He walks in the party with the same attitude he has when he come to a high school prom: Airy, nonchalant,... Percy should have stuck out of the crowd like a sore thumb, but in the absence of explaination, he fits in perfectly.

The rest of the table has also realised who just arrived. It took them more time than Annabeth did, but eventualy, they did, and it is devastating.

Hazel is the first one to react. "Is...Is that...?" Her voice is shaky, and her entire body is trembling as if there is a an earthquake washes over her.

"It can't be... No..." Frank follows her, his face pales as snow.

Piper and Nico don't say anything, but their facial expressions give them away. Nico's face is clouded with darkness, his hands ball into fists. Piper's eyes is now as wide as plates. Leo and Calypso aren't any better. Each one of them have a different reaction, but they can all agree on one thing: this certainly isn't what they expected.

 _Why is he here? he can't be here._ Annabeth's desprately trying to swim through the thought swamp in her head. _This can't be real, this can't... Wait! That's it! It's not Percy! It's just someone who looks like him! Someone who looks like him, acts like him, generates the same aura as him,..._

 _Don't be stupid!_ The sane part inside her brain shouts. _You can't just keep deceiving yourself like this! look at him, it's Percy! You know he isn's dead, you know it! Just look..._

Annabeth feels something strange in her hands. She looks down and see sweats, forming drops inside her palms. She has never sweats her hands, ever. Her head feels light and her heart is racing. Oh great, she's having a panic attack. Annabeth tries to calm herself down, but it's no use. She can't breakdowns, not here, not now. But her body is betraying her. Soon, she will becomes a mess in front of hundreds of people...

 _Annabeth!_ The voice inside her head speaks out again. She ignores that. Her breath keeps getting heavier and heavier, the numbness is spreading out-

Annabeth!

Wait, it's not inside her head?

Confused, Annabeth looks behind her back, and sees Will with a stern look in his face and a hand on her shoulder. He has moved out of his seat when nobody noticed.

"W...Will? When did you...?" Annabeth asks, then shakes her head "No... Did you see that? It's-"

"Everyone saw it." Will speaks calmly "It's him, no doubt. You're not insane."

"I...I'm fine..." Annabeth stutters. However, the sentence comes out so weak it sounds like reasuring herself.

"No, you're not" Will looks around "No one at this table is. You need to control yourself, Annabeth. You look so pale right now. Breathe, just breathe."

Okay. Breathe, she can do it. In, out, in, out. Slowly but surely, she steadies herself. Other people seem to have get rid of the shock, too. The party gets back to normal, as if nothing weird ever happens. Voices and laughters once again fill the venue. Her friends also get themselves together. Will is the only who wasn't affected.

"I'm a doctor, Annabeth" Will says without even looking at her "I deal with nerve-wrecking situations all the time. I'm not really fazed by things like this anymore."

"Well, that's ... unexpected." Leo tries to lift everyone's spirit, however, his voice is as weak as his smile.

"I thought he's dead. You said he's dead." Frank seems to have regained his ability to speak.

"I... I don't know" Annabeth's head is spinning around. She told her friends that he's gone, yes, but she has never found his soul. where has he been? What broughts him back?

"But... why is _he_ here?" Hazel speaks what's on Annabeth's mind.

"Who knows?" Nico answers coldly "Maybe he feels like he's finally get bored of his little vacation and want to make a comeback; maybe he just like to fuck things up again."

"Nico!" Hazel gasps. "You shouldn't say that!"

"Hazel, I just swear _once_."Nico replies a little exasperated "And that isn't even the main problem here! It's Mr. Percy Jackson over there, busting in like everything is still the same as when he run away-"

"Guys!" Leo cuts in "Don't argue now, listen!"

Right at that moment, a squealing-like noise comes out of the spy bug. Everyone have forgot it was there.

"Oh my god! You look perfect!" An asian voice of a girl filled with admiration busts through the speaker.

"You are late" One of the previous voices interupts, the guy that complained earlier.

"The traffic was bad. Plus, Fox over here decided to go on a clothing shopping spree 30 minutes before the party started." A similar voice replies. A very similar one.

Percy's voice.

"Wait," The whole table looks at each other "HE'S WITH THEM?!"

Okay, fine. Percy will admits, he party isn't half bad. The venue looks nice, the building has a Greek asthetic, which make him feels much more comfortable. And the best thing? He hasn't been kicked out yet, which mean he has successfully blend in with the crowd. Just from a look, he has confirmed that every single person here is wearing atleast a house on their body. However, they're not as bad as he thought. They moved over when he need to get to the table section. But something feels... wrong. Like he's being watched by someone...

Nah. Probably the security trying to figure out whether he looks suspicious or not. At a party like this, not even the monsters dare to revolt.

Now, the easy part has passed, he need to deal with the Angel squad.

"Going shopping is not an excuse, especially in this case. You should have thought about that the say BEFORE." Jace saids coldly. Percy will never understand this guy. He seems to have this cold, semi-hostile attitude against him since the first time they gets on fine with Monkey and Fox, the attitude is just for him. It doesn't exactly feels like hatred, though; more like a defense mechanism. Yet, Percy also have this attitude against Jace, so... he'll let it slides.

"That's not my excuse, that's her. I just said it first so she won't drag it out." Percy glances at Fox.

"Don't blame me, I did that for you! Without me, you would have come here naked!" Fox raises her eyebrow. Unfortunately, she's right. Where they're staying at only provide them basic clothing and food.

"... Fine, I'll take it this time." Percy sighs "Well, The blame's on me now. Can we finally sit down?"

"Just make yourself comfortable!" Simon looks surprised "No one told you to stand in the first place!"

... Percy needs to use his brain more often...

"So, where the food?" Monkey says eagerly as they take their sits "You guys promised me that, and I hope that you keep your promise!"

"Easy there, boy," Isabelle turns to a waiter near them "can you give us the menu, please?"

Soon after, with the help of a fews cup of champagne and a full stomach, the table has been filled with the conversations and laughter. Some of the stories that the Shadowhunters tell them were hilarious. The first week after Alec and Magnus adopted their son, the time when Simon was still in training or when Clary almost exploded the kitchen while experimenting with new runes,... Percy isn't short on his stories, either. His experience with Fox's horrible cooking, when he had to saved Monkey from a vicious herd of duck (Jace seems strangely understanding),... He managed to make Alec choked on his drink, which earned him a small round of applause.

"That story is amazing!" Clary gasps for air after Percy finishes the story. At this point, everyone is more or less drunk. Waiters come and went, replacing empty glasses with filled ones like busy ants. The only person who is still sober is Percy. He hasn't drank a sigle drop of alcohol. Percy... doesn't have a good track record with liquor...

"How did you guys get away with that?!" Simon says a little slurry. The poor guy tried to prove with Jace that he isn't a lightweight and is now dangerously close to be hammered.

"Just pure skill... and also a bit of concealing magic." Fox replies smoothly, but there is undoubtly a crack hidden under her voice.

"This party is spectacular!" Monkey drinks his God-know-how-many glass of white wine. "Magnus, how on earth did you get your hands on those tickets?!" He looks at Magnus in awe.

"That is sadly confidential," Magnus smiles mysteriously "Can't let all my secrets out, you know?"

"Isn't it just a bit sad right now that not everyone can come?" Fox sighs.

...

 _Oh no._

"... What are you talking about?" Isabelle asks, her eyebrows knit into one thin line.

"She is just drunk now, just having too much of white wine-" Percy desprately tries to save the situation, but Monkey decided to pour more gasoline into the fire.

"You guys are seriously wasted! We were supposed to have more people, remember?" He spirals into laughter with Fox, who has gladly joined him "Oh god, you are hilarious!"

Percy grinds his teeth. _Just stop!_

Soon enough, the two warlocks realizes something is wrong. No one is laughing with them. _Percy_ doesn't seem to have a good time, either.

"Ehh... No one remembers?" Fox askes hesitantly.

"...No." Magnus put his drink down "As far as I'm concerned, the amount of people that I see right now is the amount of tickets I got."

"Did you managed to get extra tickets?" Simon looks at Fox "We have some friends that would love to come here."

Percy can feel sweats running down his nape. The party was going great. Why in Tartarus does it have to take a turn?

"Percy?" Monkey stares at him "Care to explain?"

He stays silent.

"You lied to us." Fox says. It's not even a quesion, just pure disapointment.

"I..." Percy jerks his head up at Fox's voice, but then drop back down. What's the point of justified himself when he's the wrong one?

"You told us that you've finally "confronted your past"" Monkey's eyes are looking sharper and sharper by seconds "You said that you wanted to do it on your own, so we let you be. Did we waited all those months for nothing?"

"... Yes" Percy replies shortly.

The silence follows after is excruxiating. He sees anger boiling inside Monkey and Fox, the shadowhunters watching it unfold like a tennis match. Oh, he's fucked up big time.

"You..." Fox tries to keep her calm, but then...

"YOU BASTARD!"

Her voice rumbles, spread out like a tsunami. Magic must have seep through, there's no way a person can scream that loud. The party went completely silent, and everyone turn around to see what's the drama.

"I TRUSTED YOU!" Fox screams her lungs out "WE TRUSTED YOU! DO YOU KNOW HOW HAPPY WE WERE FOR YOU WHEN YOU TOLD US THOSE LIES? WE WERE ESTATIC WHEN WE HEARD THAT YOU TOLD MAGNUS TO GET EXTRA TICKETS FOR YOU OLD FRIENDS!OH, BUT THEN THEY GOT BUSY! WHY DON'T YOU JUST TOLD US THEY WON'TT COME BECAUSE THEY DON'T EVEN KNOW YOU'RE ALIVE?!"

"What're you talking about?" Clary asks "Who are these "friends" you're talking about?"

"Oh, just a bit of hidden past" Monkey casually explains "We have planned to reveals it here, but _David_ here seems to have a different idea.

The worst thing Percy can imagine has happened: They have drawn attention. Around him, people are pointing and whispering. If he can't stop it, it will blows his cover. Percy can't let that happens, so he does the only thing he can think of.

"I'm sorry" He stands up in a less than graceful manner "I need to go".

"Wait, what?" Jace says "You can't just LEAVE after that bomb you threw."

"OH NO, he won't!" Fox snarl "Try to runawway again, aren't you?" She digs her nails in his arm.

Percy swallows his anger down. He doesn't need to stirs up anymore drama.

"We need to leave" Percy grinds his teeth, jerks his arm out of Fox's grip "NOW."

"We are going _nowhere_." Fox snaps back "You will explain everything here, in this exact spot."

"We can leave that for later." Percy glares "People are watching."

"So what?" Fox asks "You have no rights, not anymore, liar . So talk-"

"Just...STOP!" Percy slams his fist onto the table.

Once again, silence falls upon the whole party. All the Nephilims tense up, Jace has already reached to his blade hidden behind his back.

"David..." Alec speaks cautiously "Just...breathe, okay?"

Confused, Percy looks down, and see what makes everyone so worried. He slammed the table so hard, it has created a long crack on the table.

"I..." Percy stumbles backward, tries to avoid all the looks toward "I'm... sorry."

He turns around and rushes to the elevator, pushing other guests away. the last thing he sees before the doors close are Fox and Monkey, they eyes filled with sadness.

Percy walks out of the elevator, dazed and disoriented. What does he do now? just go home? Visit a nearby bar and dosed himself with shitty music?

He takes a long sigh. His life is just a mess. Maybe a long walk will clears his mind. He's just about leave the building when...

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN YOU CAN'T DO ANYTHING ABOUT IT?!" Percy jumps at the sound of what he can described as a sonic boom. A woman is shouting into her phone, definitely not in her best mood. Based on her clothes, Percy's pretty sure that she is one of the staff of the party.

"I don't care, you will fix-" The woman said "Wait! Hey, HEY!" She curses, then drops herself down on the stairs, her face covers in her hands.

"Are you okay?" Percy walks up to her.

"Who are you?" She looks at him and asks coldly.

"Well, it seems like you're the one that's in charge of the party i just attended" Percy tilts his head "Are there any problems?"

The woman's eyes are wide open "Wait, you are one of the guests?"

Before he can reacts, she quickly stands up and bows " I'm so sorry, sir! I-"

"Please don't call me "sir" " Percy quickly stops her "I'm not that important. We are talking about your problems, okay? Can I help you with that?"

"Well..." The woman looks down "It's complicated..."

"Did the champagne run out?" Percy asks a bit jockingly "They've drunk all of it, didn't they?."

The woman laughs out loud, but immediately changes back to sorrow "Ah well, it's... more complicated than that..."

"Don't worry" He assures her "I can keep a secret."

"It's..." The woman takes a deep breath "The artist that was supposed to performed at this party has informed that he can't come, and there's no time for us to find a back up artist."

"Oh..."

"The person who needs to find a new singer... did her job poorly. She didn't think it would be necessary to have an extra plan." Her shoulders starts shaking "If I can't solve this problem, I will lose my job."

"...The artist who dropped out is a dick." Percy says flatly. This causes the woman to laugh once more and the tears to stop falling.

"I'm sorry that you have to listen to this mess." The woman apologizes "I should probably head back in now-"

Suddenly, an idea pops in Percy's head. He has never been a good person with words. with music, though...

"I think I can help you" Percy said.

 **Hello, hello? You guys are still there, right?**

 **It turns out chosing a long AND crossover fanfic as your first project is... not a wise idea. Sometimes I have too many ideas and sometimes I have none. With that being said, i won't abandon it, at least not yet. I hate the feeling of reading an unfinished fanfic, and I don't want people who read mine feel the same. So, get ready for the next chapter(that may come a whole year after this one, who knows?). Until the next time.**


	12. A glimpse into the past

**Ah shit, h** **ere we go again.**

Earth is a weird place. Sometimes, a titan would come back to life and tries to conquer the Western civilization. Other times, some Roman emperors would come back to life and try to control USA. And, if you're unlucky enough, your thought-to-be-dead ex-boyfriend will come back and create such a mess that you would think he's trying to get a hold of New York upper class.

The wealth likes to gossip, and they grab onto these kinds of drama like a herd of hungry piranha. Everyone is talking about Percy, from subtle whispers to straight up cynicism. But now that he has left the place, people turn their conversation topic to the closest thing related to him: his friends. They look uncomfortable, which is understandable due to the unwanted attention. "Jace" glares at anyone who dares to take a look at them, while the others just hide their faces in embarrassment, or in two special cases, disappointment and anger.

"...Well, at least we can confirm that it's Percy," A familiar voice appears and Rachel sits down next to Annabeth. "No one could make such an appearance like him. Or a reappearance."

"You've seen it all?" Annabeth asks in disbelief.

"I was just checking on the guests when he came in." She casually sips her wine "Almost screams my lungs out and risk spitting on a potential customer's face, you know? Still, I managed to keep it in."

Piper stares at Rachel "And you don't feel surprised or anything after that?"

Rachel sighs "After hanging out with you guys? Nah. And coming back from the dead isn't really something new here. I mean, I'm sitting with Leo, aren't I?"

"...Good point." Leo tries to argue, but failed.

"Are you sure? Don't you remember a dream, a whisper from Oracle, some kind of signs?" Frank asks cautiously.

"I swear to god, Frank, I still have the same answer as I did years ago: I don't know. Maybe something is still blocking the prophecies, or-

"Wait, wait! They're talking!" Calypso leans forward, almost caught herself off balance.

"Who?" Rachel asks in confusion.

"And here I thought God was going to be merciful today..." Magnus shuts his eyes for a moment and leans back on his chair.

"... I'm so sorry for this" Fox looks up from her hands after what feels like an eternity "I... I should have seen it coming."

"Yeah, you should have. This was supposed to be a fun night-" Jace replies coldy, but Clary stops him just in time.

"Calm down! It's okay, " She reassures her "It's not your fault. It's David's fault. We can deal with him later. Now, let's deal with the crowd, shall we?"

"Can you help me? I need a bit more time to digest this mess..." Fox says weakly to her friend.

"Yeah, just one moment." Monkey straightens up his posture, then mumbles something under his breath. A fog-like substance appears in his hands and engulfs the venue's floor. Some people yelp, but soon everyone go silent. Just like that, the fog melt and the guests wake up, continue their conversations and laughing like nothing's ever happened.

"Well that's a neat trick." Magnus speaks as Monkey wipes his hands into a tissue.

"Yeah, it comes in handy quite a few times. It can even be used by non-warlocks, too. Feels quite nasty, though." He shrugs.

"Wait, you've been hiding such an awesome trick for how long?!" Simon blinks "Dude, that could have made our life much easier!"

"Oh, we did want to share much more than just magic tricks," Fox laughs bitterly " But "David" says otherwise. He's the one who taught us that, so it's his call."

The name shut the table up one more time. It hangs on everyone's head like a meteor, ready to strike down... again.

"So... what's the big secret here?" Isabelle tugs away a loose strand of hair. "David met some old friends? How can that concern us?"

The two young warlocks share a look, then say simultaneously:

"David is a son of a Greek god."

"His friends are a bunch of demigods, too."

"..."

"Ah, "David" also isn't his real name."

The reactions are priceless. Or rather, the lack of reactions.

They're staring. Hard. Fox takes a big, inelegant gulp from her glass. Still nothing.

Monkey tilts his head "Huh, this isn't what I'm expecting..."

"You're saying ... Greek gods exists?" Clary is the first to speak.

"All of them, every major gods and the minor ones, too."

"And David is a... _demigod_?" Simon looks like he choked on a rat when he said the word.

"Yes, I do remember we have stated that very clearly." Fox mockingly answers.

"But you said that he was a warlock!" Simon exclaims.

"Well, obviously, we lied." Monkey looks straight into the nephilim's eyes "We're not ferries, you know."

"Somebody has suspected, though..." A pair of amber eyes pierces through Brooklyn's High Warlock.

"... His kind of magic, it's not of any kinds I know, not even dark magic." Magnus put it simply.

"Then why didn't you tell us?" Alex gently touches his hand.

"Just following my guts, " A smirk flashes through his face "I guess I was right, after all. You guys did help us a lot... until now."

"What about his friends? And his name?" It's Isabelle's turn to ask.

"Latter first. The name's Percy Jackson. Try to remember that. For the former, every single one of them is... like him, too."

"Why hide from us that long?" Jace cross his arms "Us Nephilims have changed. The Cold peace has ended. What are you afraid of?"

"Now you're starting to touch the complicated part. It's -"

As if on cue, all of the lights go out, leaving only the stage lid. It's finally time for some music. People are getting more curious. Who is the artist tonight? A figure walks out from behind the curtains and it is...

Percy Jackson.

* * *

Percy can hear confusion rises among the crowd. He sees his companions down there, trying their best to not run up the stage and slit his throat out. Judging from what he hears, the scene that he caused has been taken care of. Oh, he doesn't deserve them. He can't see any further from their table, all the other table covers in the dark.

That felling…. the felling that he is being watched surfaced again…. What is that?

Focus, Percy. It's show time and he needs to make it worth it.

So he does what he has to do. He sits down on the piano and starts playing a melody Apollo taught him. Music has helped him in many occasions, Thanks gods for his lessons. Sure enough, it eases the guests effortlessly. Then, he sings:

 _Please allow me to introduce myself_

 _I'm a man of wealth and taste_

 _I've been around for a long, long year_

 _Stole many a man's soul and faith_

 _I was 'round when Jesus Christ_

 _Had his moment of doubt and pain_

 _Made damn sure that Pilate_

 _Washed his hands and sealed his fate_

 _Pleased to meet you_

 _Hope you guess my name_

 _But what's puzzling you_

 _Is the nature of my game_

His audience is starting to catch the beats. He can see them moving, swaying their hips, tapping their feet, ... Good, he just needs to keep it up. He sings louder and more confident, the bands hidden behind the stage is playing faster. He finishes the song quickly, but the applause given to him has proved that he has succeed.

He musters his most confident voice and smile "Hello, hello! Ladies and gentlemen, mostly ladies, " The guests replies with hearty laugh "welcome to the party today! I hope that you're all having a good time, you look like you're definitely having a good time, aren't you?"

The guests answer him with a cheer, holding their glasses up to the sky. One thing that Percy loves about the rich people: they're quite easily entertained after a few glasses of wine.

"Right now, you might be thinking: Who is this guy? Why did he just run on the stage and played The Rolling Stones? You would be right to ask that" He paces around the stage, scrunching his eyebrows like it's a hard question "Well, the answer is... the person that was supposed to perform tonight has, for a better word, dipped at the last moment." Everyone start booing "Yeah, just like you, I feel very, very disappointed. But, an idea came into my mind: if we don't have anyone to play music, we'll play it ourselves!"

He practically warps these people around his finger by now. they agree with everything he said, cheering louder and louder.

"But, if it's just singing then it's too boring, right? No, no, no. Today, in the spirit of creating memories and new relationships, I'll tell you a story, a story about friendship, about love, about atonement and much, much more."

Realization emerges from his companions' faces. They can see his intention now, and they seem to agree with him. So it's settle, then.

He starts off slow and works his way up. He sings about his childhood, how his life changed in just one moment, all of the danger he has endured over time. He sings about how he met all his friends and how they kept him moving forward. He sings about how he failed them, how he ran away to avoid facing his problems. He sings about how he met his current partners, how they aid him on his adventures; about how he became better bit by bit and how he wants to came back but he didn't know how to.

And last but never least, Percy sings about Annabeth, just about everything he can thinks of about her. He sings about how he met her, the way she turns from being annoying to endearing, something he doesn't want to live without. He sings about his biggest mistake: failing her and did nothing about it. He is visibly sweating and his fingers hurt. He finishes his last song in a slow but strong note:

 _And way down we go_  
 _Way down we go_  
 _Say way down we go, ooh_  
 _Way down we go_

The party hall erupts, Percy hears cheering from everywhere. He's panting, it's been a while since the last time he sung this much. Even his partners and the others are clapping too. Risky is an understatement for what he just did, but it's paid off in the end. After taking a second to balance himself and stand up, he grins at the crowd below:

"And that is the end of my performance!" his announcement is met with disappointment "I know, I know, this is sad but-"

"One more!" The drunk crowd screams.

"You want one more song?" Percy grins. If he needs to be honest with himself, he is having a good time, and he wants to sing some more.

"YES!"

"Okay then, one more! However, someone will have to come up and sing with me!" The light follows his hand, scanning the room looking for a volunteer.

"Come on, who will be the lucky person-" His voice trails off as the light goes past a familiar looking woman. His fear is confirmed when it focuses back on her.

Percy knows that he has rotten luck, his life story is a solid proof for that. Lately, though, his days have passed through peacefully, and Percy gets his hope up just a tiny bit. He should have known better.

Standing right there, staring straight into his eyes is the one and only Annabeth Chase. She looks…. beautiful. The sliver dress that she's wearing complements her perfectly. Under the light, she's just like a goddess.

Then he sees who she went here with, and it became much worse. They're all here: The rest of the Seven, Nico, Will and Rachel. Something clicks in his mind: The ticket that he got, it said the party is sponsored by… Dare Enterprise.

Fuck.

"…Ah, on second thought, I have duty call" Focus back on the crowd, he smiles sadly "I am so sorry for the inconvenience, please have a good night. Thank you." Without hearing what people have to say, he calmly walks down the stage, then run like hell behind the curtains. He runs pass the band, the staff, the woman who is about to thank him for stalling just enough for the next artist to come. He practically slides down the emergency stairs. Percy needs to steer the attention away from his friends, and he succeed. They're following him, all of them. He slows down, barely close enough for them to catch up. Then….

"Percy!" Her voice makes him feels dizzy. It's been too long since the last time he heard it. The rest have caught up with her. This must be like a fever dream for them.

This is going to be hard to explain.

 **My original plan was to finish and upload this chapter on Jan 1** **st** **. So much for New Year plan.**

 **Hello, it's me, your lovely and very responsible author. Wish you a very late happy New Year. I'm sorry for the long update time. Fun fact: this chapter is a glimpse into what this story was supposed to be. Percabeth broke up, they came to the same bar, Percy sung his heart out, they reconciled and the universe is balanced. But, I didn't want to have the shadowhunters to be background characters so I thought of a reason Percy left, what he did in all those years, who he travelled with, blah blah blah. The result is… this mess, but it is a mess with potential. Also, Percy's new companions do have names, it's just that they are familiar name that some may recognize. They are not from the Rickverse or the Shadowhunterverse, I "borrowed" them from another place. Don't worry, their story will be fixed to fit in the story, so you can think of them as OC if you like. Thank you for reading, and… until the next time.**


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